The loud music blared through the speakers, and there were dancing bodies everywhere. Jolene pushed past the crowd, her heart beat getting calmer and calmer with each step she took. Throwing her hands up in the air and mindlessly dancing among strangers in a stuffy environment just wasn't her idea of fun.

She released a breath of relief as she stepped outside the house, and into the lawn. Ah. Fresh air and the sweet smell of newly bloomed Petunias cooled her pumped nerves. She took a minute out there, breathing steadily and deeply, till she fetched her phone from the pocket of her overcoat.

"Hello? Hey mom. Could you come and pick me up? It's getting really boring out here. Yup. Okay. See ya." Jolene said into the phone before clicking it off. While to most of the kids her age, a party like this would have been labelled as the "Wildest and coolest" pah-tay of all time, she had different opinions.

Jolene was an ambivert, and like an angel landed on earth to make it a better place. She was the adults' favourite, with her girl-next-door charm, and girls in her grade were envious of her looks. She was a natural beauty. Her humour was a bit difficult to understand, but once you did, man, you could keep laughing for hours. She was a perfect example for a 'beauty with brains', as they say.

The wind was whipping by, creating a chilly atmosphere. She rubbed her palms together and folded her arms, slightly swaying to the beat of the weather. "You okay there?" A baritone broke the silence. She turned around and smiled at her friend.

"God, Chase. Just because I'm finding my peace outside, doesn't mean something's wrong with me! You know how I hate such parties." She replied shaking her head as Chase made himself comfortable on a nearby garden chair.

"I know. Purposefully drinking excessively spiked punch only to wake up with a brain-splitting headache the next morning sure doesn't sound very exciting." He scrunched up his nose in distaste and Jolene laughed at his expression.

Him being the non-drinker, was always the designated driver at parties. Jolene and Chase's sync in sarcasm made them best buddies. They could spend hours together scrutinising the latest new pop sensation and never get bored.

Suddenly the main door burst open to reveal none other than the very famous Jessica Piper. Her gaze narrowed down to Jolene and Jolene cringed. "Uh....hi Jess!" She tried to act casual.

Jessica flipped back her glossy hair and walked to where Jolene was standing, her heels melodically clinking against the marble. "Oh don't you try to 'hi Jess' me, you betrayer!" Jessica accused, her lips twitching slightly upwards. Chase was watching the whole scene rather amusingly.

"Come on! I didn't do anything!" Jolene countered, pressing her lips together to prevent herself from giggling. Both of them knew what exactly had happened. From the start of the party, there was this really annoying guy from school trying to talk to Jessica. But seeing that she wasn't paying much attention to him, he had approached Jolene for some advice. She was the school's problem solver after all.

"You told that guy that the only way to impress me would be by reciting poetry from Shakespeare?" Jessica folded her arms together and raised her eyebrows. Jolene burst out laughing.
"No way! He literally did that??!!" Jolene confirmed. Chase joined in and high-five'd Jolene. "Pretty creative, J!" Jessica glared at both of them.

"Plus, you just left me stranded on the dance floor." Jess accused dramatically, gesturing towards the house.
"Oh please. Stranded on the dance floor. Seriously? I'm sure you must be behaving like a crazed horse after realising that there was no one around to control your actions." Jolene stated, raising one eyebrow.

Chase snickered in appreciation. The sound of a horn made the three friends turn towards the exit. They could make out Jolene's mom's silhouette waving towards them. "Guess it's time for me to go. See ya later folks." Jolene saluted playfully and started walking briskly towards the car.

"Too boring?" Her mom asked, smiling.
"Too boring." She answered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One hour later 1:05 am

Jolene shuffled uncomfortably in her bed, trying to get some sleep. It had started raining, and she pushed the covers aside and sat up, frustrated. She had school tomorrow, so every little minute of sleep counted. Thunder rumbled outside dangerously, and she jumped at the sudden noise. Rubbing her eyes vigorously, she got up and made her way towards the washroom.

Jolene let out a hiss as the cold water from the tap made contact with her face which was warm after being buried underneath the covers. Turning the tap off, she wiped her face with a towel and opened the bathroom door.

"What......?" She gasped and squinted her eyes at the scene before her. It was pretty dark, but she could still clearly make out the black cloud-like smoke creating a blanket of creep around her bed.
She carefully stepped forward, unaware of how to react.
Are these clouds? But no; the window is tightly shut. She thought.

Suddenly, the temperature in the bedroom dipped relatively, and she felt goosebumps riding up her arms. She shivered. The black smoke had now surrounded her entirely, and she frantically turned in circles, trying to figure out what was happening to her.

"Don't panic, my love. Nobody wants to harm you..." She heard a faint whisper and tried to locate the source of it. There it was again, an amused chuckle, followed by the words, "I'm not in your bedroom." He said, clearing her doubts. She hugged herself tightly, and stuttered, "Wh-who are y-you?"

"My name? Reece. Though that's all you'll get for now, sugar. But trust me; I'll be back sooner than you think." He said mysteriously. "But I—" she started but was cut off by a strong gust of wind, and just like that the black smoke started to slowly dissolve back into nothingness. In Fact, it looked as if it was never there in the first place. The room was back to its comfortable and warm aura, but Jolene was not. Her eyes were practically ready to bulge out any second.

"Mom...!" She tried to shout but all that came out was a course whisper. And before she knew it, a single drop of tear rolled down her cheeks, followed by more. She fell down on her knees, running her hands through her hair.

What just happened in here? Whose voice was that? Am I dreaming or something? All sorts of questions floated around in her brain. This was just surreal. All this happened in freaking movies, for crying out loud! Her head throbbed from lack of sleep, and she went back to her bed trying to convince herself that her mind was just messing with her.

If only she knew the truth.

**********************
A/N
Okay. So here it is, people; the first chapter of my second book. Did you like it? Was it boring? It would really mean a LOT if you could drop in a comment; it makes me kinda happy. And yeah, I'll throw in a dedication or shout out in the next chapter to the first one who comments!

Love<3
Me